Drive-chain.



No. 629,5l5.

(No Model.)

B. J. MAcnoNALn.

Patented .luly 25, |899.

. DRIVE CHAIN.

(Application led July 30, 1898.)

mmm Illlllll www yNITI-:D STATES BRUCE J. MACDONALD, oF FLINT, MICHIGAN.

DRIVE-CHAIN;

SPECIFICATIN forming para of Letters ratent No. 629,515, dated Jury 2'5, 189e.

Application tiled July 30, 1898. Serial No. 687,340. (No model.)

To d/Z whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, BRUCE'J. MACDONALD,

a citizen of the United States, residing at- Flint, in the county of Genesee and State of lWIichigan, have invented a new and useful Drive-Chain, of which the followingisa specification.

My invention relates to a dust-proof selflubricating drive-chain for bicycles or other machines, and has for its object'to provide such a construction of chain elements as to exclude dust and grit from the joints and at the same time secure the efficient lubrication of the parts at their points of contact.

Further objects and advantages of this invention Will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

I11 the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective View of a chain constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 isa longitudinal section of the same, taken in the plane of the link-connecting pivot-pins. Fig. 3 is aninner face view of one of the plate-links.y Fig. 4 is a detail View in perspective of one of the block-links. Fig. 5 is a plan viewof one of the pivot-pins, showing the packing-rings arranged in operative relation therewith. Fig. 6 is a sectional viewsimilar to Fig. 2, showing, in addition to the packing-rings, alubrieating-strip seated in the piu-opening of the block-link for contact with the surface of the pivot-pin. Fig. 7 is a sectional View similar to Fig. 2, showing the packing-rings located Wholly in seats formed in the block-links. Fig. 8 is a similar view showing the packingrings arranged in seats located Wholly in the plate-links.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

The chain embodying my invention consists, essentially, of plate-links l, block-links 2, and pivot-pins 3, connecting the links in series substantially as in the ordinary construction and having exterior or exposed surfaces corresponding exactly with drive-chains now incommon use in connection with bicycles and similar vehicles.

It is Well known in the art that the wearing of drive-chains, due to the continued use thereof, occurs at the exterior surface of the body portion of the pivot-pin and the inner surface or wall of the eye or pin-hole of the block-link, thus increasing the length of the chain and consequently its pitch and ultimately causing the chain to climb the sprockets. As it requires an enlargement of only one two-hundredths of an inch in the pinhole or eye of the block-link and a corresponding reduction of the pivot-pin in order to cause the climbing of the sprockets by the chain, it will be readily seen that it is desirable in the construction of chains to provide against the access of grit, such yas dust, to the joints between the` elements of a chain, and also to providefor the efficient lubrication of these joints in order to reduce friction to the minimum. Y

In order to exclude dust and foreign substances from the bearings of the pivot-pins in the block-links,l have found it desirable to employ packing-rings 4, of felt or equivalent soft absorbent material, surrounding the pivotpins and in contact with the` opposing faces of the `plate and block links, one edge of the ring being countersunk or tted in a groove in the face of one of the links. These packing-rings may be disposed to break joint between the inner faces of the plate-links and the side surfaces of the block-links, as Vshown in Fig. 2, by providing the contacting faces of said plate and block links with registering annular grooves or channels 5 and 6; but in order at the same time to serve as a lubricating medium and also to assist in the exclusion of dust I preferably form the annular grooves or channels 6 in the block-links so as to break into and communicate throughout their lengths with the pin-holes or bearingeyes 7 of the block-links.

-This disposes the inner cylindrical surfaces of the lubricating mediums, when arranged in said groovespr channels, flush with the surface of the wall of the pin-hole or bearing-eye and in Contact with the surface of the body portion 3a of the pivot-pin contiguous to theshoulders'S, formed by the terminal reductions of the pin. As in the ordinary practice, .the pivot-pin shown in the drawings is reduced at its extremities to form the said shoulders 8, which IOO are arranged at an interval equal with or slightly exceeding the width of the block-link, and against these shoulders the inner surfaces of the plate-1inks bear,whereby when the projectingV portions of the reduced extremities of the pivot-pins are spread or swaged the pivot-pin is securely locked to and connects the corresponding ends of the opposite platelinks. This causes the turning of the body portion of thepivot-pin in the pin-opening or bearing-eye of the block-link, and consequently the wear due to the use of the chain lfalls upon the surface of said pin-opening or bearing-eye and the surface of the body portion of the pivot-pin. As above indicated, there must be a sufficient interval between each side surface of the block-link and the contiguous inner surface of the plate-link to allow free relative movement ofthe plate and block links, and it is through this interval, although exceedingly small in practice, that dust and grit gain access to the points of bearing of the chain elementsv By having packing-rings 4, however, located to break this joint or span this interval, whether carried 'solely by grooves or channels 6"L in the blocklinks, as shown in Fig. 7, to bear at their outer edges against the inner surfaces of the plate-links or seated wholly in channels 5a, formed 'in the inner surfaces of the platelinks, as shown in Fig. 8, and bearing at their inner edges against the side surfaces of the block-link or seated at their opposite edges in registering grooves 5 and 6, formed in the contiguous faces of the plate and block links, as shown in Fig. 2, I am enabled to positively exclude dust from the contacting and relatively-movable members of the ehain,and thus vastlyincrease the durability and prolong the life or period of usefulness thereof.

It will be seen that in each of the forms of my invention disclosed in the drawings the packing-ring is seated at at least one edge in a channel in one link and bears against or is in contactat the other edge with the other link to prevent access of sand or dirt to the pin-bearing. It is obvious that these packing-rings may perform the packing function ascribed to them without having their inner cylindrical surfaces in contact with the surfaces of the body portions 3' of the pivot-pins; but this contact with the pivot-pins not only increases the eiiiciencyof the rings as means of excluding dust, but enables me, by employing absorbent material for the packing-rings and charging the same with a lubricating material, to apply a lubricant continuously to the said contacting surfaces of the chain elements, and hence in practice I prefer to form the channels or seats 6 as rabbets at the extremities of the bearing-eyes or pin-openings of the block-links, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 7.

Additional lubricating-strips 9 may be let into grooves 6, formed axially in the walls of the pin-openings or bearing-eyes of the blocklinks and extending between the planes of the contiguous edges of the opposite packingrings 4, said strips being of any suitable cross-sectional contour, as round or angular, but preferably being held against displacement in a direction perpendicularto the axisof the bearing by a cross-sectional enlargenient of the channel as it recedes from the surface of the pin-opening or bearing-eye. A round packing-strip, as shown in Fig. 6, is efficient in practice as havingthe above-mentioned quality,the cross-sectional shape thereof adapting it to be inserted longitudinally into the groove or channel formed for its reception.A Furthermore, the groove or channel l0 for the lubricating-strip 9 is terminally open or exposed, and when -used in connection with the annular grooves or channels in the faces of the block-links.communicates with said grooves or channels, whereby the introduction of lubricating material to the packing-strips, which are adapted to perform, as above indicated, the additional function of lubricating mediums, serves to charge the lubricating-strip, and thus insure a constant application of lubricant to the surface of the body portion of the pivot-pin. It will be seen, furthermore, that the exterior or exposed surface of the chain embodying the packing and lubricating features of my in-` vention is identical with that of the ordinary forms of drive-chains `now in use, no portions of the lubricating or packing devices or the grooves or channels in which they are seated being formed in or extending to the exposed surfaces of the chain elements.

Various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

Ilavin g described my invention, claim isl. A drive-chain for vehicles, comprising terminally-overlapping block and plate links having facing sides contiguously arranged, pivot-pins connecting transversely opposite plate-links and mounted to turn in bearingeyes or pin-holes of the block-links, and packing-rings surrounding portions of the pivotpins and having their opposite end edges inclosed by the overlapping portions of the said links and relatively engaging parts of the said links, the one end edge of each ring being let into a groove in the facing side of one link and bearing at its other edge against lthe other link, the inner cylindrical surface of each ring being also Hush with the wall of the bearing-eye or piu-openin g near to the same in the block-link.

2. A drive-chain for vehicles, comprising block and plate links, and pivot-pins connecting transversely opposite plate-links, mount ed to turn in bearing-eyes or pin-holes of the block links, packing rings carried by the links to break jointbetween the contiguous side faces thereof, and arranged at their inner surfaces in contact with the surface of what IOO

the pivot-pin, and packing-strips connecting transversely opposite packing-rin gs, substantially as specified. 3. A drive-chain for vehicles, comprising block and plate links, and pivot-pins connecting transversely opposite plate-links, mounted to turn in bearing-eyes or pin-holes of the block links, packing rings carried by the links to break joint between the contiguous side faces thereof, and arranged at-their inner surfaces in contact with the surface of the pivot-pin, and packing-strips parallel with the pivot-pin and connecting lthe packingrings at opposite sides of the block-link, substantially as specified.

4. A drive-chain having block and plate links,and pivot-pins connecting transversely v opposite plate-links and mounted at intermediate points to turn in bearing-eyes or pin- 'openings of the block-links, said block-links plate-links, and packing-strips arranged in said longitudinal channels, substantially as specified.

5. A drive-chain having plate 'and block links, and pivot-pins connecting transversely opposite plate-links and mounted at intermediate points to turn in bearing-eyes or pin'- openings of the block-links, said bearing- 

